President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is in Berlin for a state visit, attended the official dinner hosted in their honor by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany. President Erdoğan delivered a speech at the dinner.

Thanking President Steinmeier for his kind invitation and warm hospitality, President Erdoğan said, "My visit will bring the deep-rooted friendship between our two countries to a whole new level."

Recalling Germany's contributions to Turkiye's economic progress and industrialization ever since the Ottoman era, President Erdoğan highlighted the Berlin-Baghdad Railway Project as the most important project in this regard, and said, "I believe we, together with Germany, will once again display a similar vision as our country gets prepared for a new leap forward in railway transportation."

"I am pleased to see that the long-established relations between our two countries continue to progress in all areas, including political, military, economic, cultural and social ones," he said. "Differences of opinion might naturally emerge on such a vast agenda. What matters is to be able to overcome these differences of opinion through mutual respect, dialogue, and diplomacy."

Stating that Turkiye and Germany share the same sensitivities regarding the Syrian crisis and irregular migration, President Erdoğan underscored that Turkiye and Germany's initiatives stopped the migration crisis from spreading, and said, "Turkiye works to prevent new tragedies, new migration waves in Syria, as was the case in the resolution of the Idlib problem."

"Turkiye has significant economic potential. It believes in a free market economy," President Erdoğan said. "The Turkish economy is built on solid foundations. The periodic fluctuations based on speculations, which took place in recent weeks, are temporary. These fluctuations had a limited impact on our economy thanks to the measures we took."

"International investments are under the guarantee of our government and state. International companies continue their activities in our country without any obstacles. We desire German companies to boost their investments in Turkiye," Erdoğan underscored.

Opposing the use of quotas, tariffs, trade sanctions for political objectives, Erdoğan said, "We are pleased to see that Turkiye and Germany have a shared approach toward the issue."

"Another factor that makes our bilateral relations unique is the Turkish community living in Germany. They first came here to work in 1961 at the invitation of Germany. Today, there are 3.5 million people here. The Turkish community has shared Germany's destiny for 57 years," Erdoğan said, noting that Turkiye encourages the Turkish community in Germany to integrate into the German society on the basis of equal access while preserving ties to their roots.

"If a journalist is involved in terrorism, can we defend that?"

"If someone is involved in terrorism regardless of his/her class, our courts will take the necessary actions," President Erdoğan said.

"Thousands of members of PKK, which is designated as a terror group by the EU, walk freely in Germany. They make demonstrations on major German streets and hold posters of the head of the terrorist organization, which is forbidden. Well, why are they allowed then?" Erdoğan asked.

"They say 'luminaries'. We should define luminary then. They say 'journalists'. If a journalist is involved in terrorism and is convicted of terrorism by a Turkish court, can we defend that? One of those so-called journalists who was sentenced to five years ten months in prison in Turkiye fled to Germany and is being treated with great respect in Germany," Erdoğan said.

President Erdoğan also underscored that thousands of FETO members also roam free in Germany.

"Such movements and approaches, which threatened Europe's social peace and future, compelled us to take these steps as a state of law," President Erdoğan said. "I hope my historic state visit to Germany will further reinforce the Turkish-German friendship," he added. (ILKHA)